Session 7
In which older women are seduced and innocents are corrupted. Story 998:Raas:3-4 After Karrthus pickpocketed some unsuspecting drunks and Jath received and was cured of sewer plague, Kaineth, Karrthus, Jath, and Lorna once again met up in Sybel’s Tavern to go adventuring. Intrigued by rumors that the blacksmith’s son in Castow killed something and was marked, the adventurers headed east. Unfortunately, the blacksmith was rather adverse to Lorna’s blunt questioning, as many other adventurers had been passing through the area and nosing into his business. On further pressing, the blacksmith allowed that his son, Lynn, was grown and if he wanted to talk with the adventurers, the blacksmith wouldn’t stop him. The adventurers followed Lynn to the back of the house. After he admitted he’d not been good recently, Jath suggested that Siga, lady of grief, might be helpful to him. Lorna was eventually able to persuade Lynn to open up and after Lorna put her arm on his shoulder, he broke into tears. To give the boy some peace, Kaineth and Karrthus quietly left. Lynn agreed to speak with the adventurers that evening at midnight about what had happened, but was afraid of people overhearing here. Jath stayed behind to speak with Lynn after Lorna had joined the others again. She spoke of Siga and how those who have experienced great pain have received a gift and a mark from Siga, which she doesn’t often offer to people. Those who become aware of how they have been marked by their pain can worship Siga and embrace their pain and rage and use it to enhance their life. Jath left Lynn to contemplate this and returned to the other adventurers. After asking a passing woman about the bandits that had been terrorizing various villages, Lorna offered to carry the woman’s basket home. Lorna offered to spend more time with Mirabel and the two sat down to tea and began to discuss Mirabel’s sewing projects. After they’d discussed Mirabel’s dress, Lorna pulled Mirabel in for a kiss on the cheek and then on the mouth. The two then went to Mirabel’s bedroom and remained there until after dark. The adventurers reconvened slightly before midnight and Lynn led them away from his house into the forest, although Lynn knew his father didn’t want him telling anyone what had happened. Lynn carried a bag with him and said he would be going on a journey. In the forest, they heard canine growling and Lynn led them to a pit with two grotesque wolves with slits down their backs. As their frenzy increased, Lynn explained that his dog had gone missing and when it returned, it was strange and violent. It bit Lynn and he had to kill the creature, to his great distress. Soon after, the wolves arrived and Lynn lured them into the pit, not wanting to kill them. Lynn said he would climb into the pit and Kaineth objected. However, Lynn said he’d done it before and proceeded to climb down via a ladder. As soon as he was in the pit, the wolves calmed. However, when Lorna shouted down to him, the wolves spasmed and split in half. Kaineth cast a sleep spell, which put Lynn to sleep, and the wolves leapt out of the pit. As Jath and Karrthus dodged, one of the wolves grabbed Kaineth by the throat and tore him to pieces. As Jath fled, Karrthus and Lorna attacked the wolves, slowly picking them off one by one. With the wolves finally dead, Karrthus tied up the unconscious Lynn, who soon woke up and was enraged by the death of the wolves. The three survivors argued about whether to kill Lynn, leave him to starve, or release him. Eventually they left him bound with the intention of returning in the morning. After take the first watch, Jath returned to the boy and told Lynn there was a way to escape, as her patron had offered to make Lynn a tiefling as well. Already enraged and grief-stricken by the loss of the wolves, he agreed. After his transformation, Jath apologized profusely, but he was barely listening as he vanished into the woods. The next morning, the adventurers returned to the pit to find it empty and an earthen ramp leading out of it. Despite Karrthus’s accusations, Jath denied knowing anything and the group returned to Niska. While Jath went to get very drunk, Karrthus and Lorna cremated Kaineth outside of town and Karrthus retained Kaineth’s ashes in a jar. Key Events Quotes